Subban skates with Team Canada in Sweden

P.K. Subban skated with Team Canada Wednesday in Stockholm as the squad prepared for Thursday’s quarterfinal game against Sweden at the World Hockey Championship (2 p.m., TSN, RDS).

Subban, a finalist for this year’s Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defenceman, was paired with Jay Harrison of the Carolina Hurricanes.

It will be interesting to watch Subban on the bigger international-size rink in Sweden. Subban played junior hockey with the OHL’s Belleville Bulls, who play their home games on an international-size rink at Belleville’s Yardmen Arena.

“I’m quite familiar in terms of how to take the rush and how to use the size of the ice to your advantage, but at the same token, I haven’t played on that rink in four or five years,” Subban told Donna Spencer of The Canadian Press Wednesday in Sweden.

“This is my first game of the tournament. It’s been four days since I played a game and it’s a little bit different coming from a playoff game thinking you’re not even going to play hockey until next September to all of a sudden being in quarter-final game, Canada versus Sweden. That alone is a challenge.”

Canada beat Sweden 3-0 in the preliminary round of the tournament, but the Swedes have since added three Vancouver Canucks players to the lineup: forwards Daniel and Henrik Sedin, along with defenceman Alex Edler.

Tell me about it. All you hear from these guys is Leafs this and Leafs that. They have some nice pieces going forward, talented young forwards, blah, blah. Ahm, Leaf fans, do you have a rookie of the year candidate, NO, how about a 23 year old Norris candidate, ahm, NO, and did the ship get righted to the tune of finishing 15’th to winning division, Ahm, NO. Leafs….whatever!